Improvement in wrenches



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ROBERT S. STENTON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

Letters .Patent No. 60,801, elated January 1, 1867. 'l

IMPROVEMENT' IN WRENCHES.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I Be it known that I, ROBERT S. STENTON, ofthe city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Wrenches; and I do hereby declare that.the following is a i'ull and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, similar letters of reference indicating corresponding parts.

Figure l is a side View ot' my wrench, showing the manner of grasping the hexagon nut in perspective.

Figure 2 is a similar view, showing the manner of grasping the square nut. 4

Figure 3 is a side View of my Wrench, with a straight wooden handle.

I make my wrench of iron, cast or wrought, or of steel, or of parts of either. I construct it with the handle straight or curved; ifstraight it may be of 1wood, fig. 3. I prefer the curved iron handles, (lngs. 1 and 2. I construct the jaws A B, iigs. 1, 2, and 3, of the wrench at an angle of sixty degrees from the plane of the straight shank O1, in order to clasp the hexagon on foiir sides. grasping and coming in immediate parallel contact with threethc first, second, and fourth, as seen in iig. 1. The hcxagon has'many advantages over the square nut, not only in beauty, but in certain positions it is more easily adjusted. The screw-wrenches thus far constructed with jaws., whether perpendicular or inclined to the shank, are only adapted to grasping square nuts, and'with such you can only hold the hexagon nut on two sides. This is insufficient to tighten it properly or to loosen the same, as the case may be, without abrading the corners in such a manner as gradually to render the nutuseless, and this is proved by the fact that machinists who have frequent occasion to operate upon one or more hexagon nuts, almost always make for themselves fixed wrenches, well knowing-that with no wrench as yet made could they operate a finished hexagon nut'without danger oi' injuring it. Another cause of abrasion arises from not adjusting the wrench to iit the nut properly, thus slipping, and,'by repetition, gradually reducing the nuts from the angle to a circle; the first diiiculty is entirely removed, and the second comparatively so.

Extending from the lower end of the shank O1, at its junction with the handle, C, or the tang in the straight handle, g. 3, I place thc projection or screw-rest J, which is solid and in one piece, with the shank C1 and the handle 02,01- the tang in the wood handle, iig. 3. This projection may be in front or at back, or on either side, according to the position of the screw. In figs. l an'd 2 it is at the back, which I prefer in fig. 3 it isin front. .The adjusting screw D, dlgs. I and 2, has `its bearings at I and J, the shoulder of the journal resting against the head B and. thep-rojection J, thus supporting and givingadditional strength to the head B and yshank C1. It has at its lower end a nut or rosette, or its equivalent, D, contiguous to the projection J. Though I prefer to make it so, the screw D does 'not necessarily require to have more than one bearing inthe projection J, not extending beyond the length of the movable jaw A. In this case, however, a recess, a, fig. 3, would have-to be formed in' the shank 01,'ig. 3, for the nut4 or rosette to4 revolve in to keep the screw in its place. Fig. 3 shows a woodhandle wrench on this principle. A

It will be observed that the jaw A is made much (about one-half) longer than the .janr B, from the plane of the straight shank Cl, so that when a square object is placed therein, the distances will be equal, or nearly so, from four to five and six to seven, as indicated by the red lines on g. 2. Unless this was the case, if the jaws were of equal lengths, or with only a triing elongation, a Wrench of this description would be available only for hexagon nutsgit could only grasp about one-third of' the square nut, and would be as inefficient on square as wrenches at present constructed are on hexagon nuts.

To enable others skilled in theart to make and use my invention, I will proceed to give a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and the letters of reference marked thereon.

I make my wrench of iron or of steel, cast or wrought, or of parts of either. The shank C1, the handle C,

or tang C, fig. 3, and the projection J, are cast or wrought in one piece. The jaws A and B may be cast or forged;'

I prefer to use cast malleable iron. They are cored out very near thetsize of the shank G1, so that they will require but little work in fitting the core of the head; jaw B is smaller than theonc used for the movable jaw A, as in order that the jaw B may be perfectly rm, I have recourse to every possible means to adjust it, so .as to render the wrench as strong at' this point as it would be if the head and bar were fol-'ined in one solid piece. In the first place the head is made hot and shrunk on, the hole at the topoi' the head B is countersunk,

andthe top of the shank Cl is riveted to lill the -counter-sink; it is then drilled through head and shank, aud

a steel or iron pin or screw riveted in on both sidesgfinally, if needed, I brace-them. The jaw A is cored or drilled at G H, the hole being the full size of the circumference of the screw for about one-half its length, but smaller, so as to be tapped in the other half for the screw D to rest in and to work in. The screw D I prefer to make of wrought iron or steel. Having all the parts fitted, take the screw D, give it a few turns in themovable jaw A, slip said jaw on sha-nk C, letting the journal into the' hole J, take the jaw B, attach the same to the shank C, as already set forth, or in some equally secure eq'uivalent manner, the other journal of the screw entering the holel; all is then together, andthe wrench, when polished, is complete.

Having thus fully described my invention, I do not claim the combination of the solid projection J' with a. nut, roette, or its equivalent, D, in contiguity, 'as that is already patented in vmy patent issued July 24, 1866, but what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- A Making the inclining jaws A and B at such an angle with the straight shank C1 as to embvcace four sides, and to grasp in parallel contact three sides of a hexagon nut, in combination with a suicient elongation of the lower ja,'\v,`so as to grasp tive sides of a square nut, es set forth. i

s. s. sTEN'roN.

Witnesses:

At T. BROWN, HENRY Monms, 

